AJC Appalled by ISIS Execution of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians

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Feb 17, 2015, 03:21 ET

NEW YORK, Feb. 17, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC is appalled by the ISIS execution of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya, the latest act of brutality from a terrorist organization that has already claimed thousands of victims across the Middle East and North Africa, as well as in Europe.

"Christians have been under assault in the Arab Middle East, but this particular outrage, the kidnapping and subsequent beheading, is beyond monstrous," said AJC Executive Director David Harris "We share the pain of our Christian brethren."

Pope Francis, reacting to the ISIS beheadings of the Copts, said, "They were killed simply for the fact that they were Christians."

And Cardinal Dolan of New York said, "This is part of an orchestrated fanaticism that sees Christianity, Judaism, and any religion of peace as the enemy."

ISIS is thriving and expanding by violently taking advantage of the political and security vacuums in Syria, Iraq, and Libya, seizing large swathes of territory, terrorizing local populations, and willfully murdering Christians and Yazidis, as well as Muslims with whom they disagree. The group has also struck with deadly violence in Egypt, Afghanistan and Algeria. Moreover, ISIS veterans and sympathizers have reached Europe, killing four people at a Paris kosher market, and four at the Brussels Jewish Museum.

"ISIS is a threat to civilization that must be vanquished," said Harris. "Pure, grotesque terrorism glorified through video, online publications, and other media is the trademark of ISIS's twisted ideology."

AJC urges greater international resolve and cooperation to confront and destroy ISIS. "Certainly, defeating ISIS is not the job of any one country alone, but requires the active collaboration of the U.S., Europe, Japan, Arab nations, and other like-minded countries," said Harris. "In the region, Jordan and Egypt, responding to direct attacks by ISIS on their own citizens, have taken important actions that others in the Arab world should emulate, making clear that ISIS is their enemy, too."

SOURCE American Jewish Committee